Distortions of the Daniel Boone Legend and Their Impact
[1] The silent film, With Daniel Boone Thru the Wilderness, was produced in 1926: a time of prosperity, an era without the skepticism of the modern American mind. People were not yet questioning the stories and histories they had been taught as children. The entertaining story told in this Robert North Bradbury film is loosely based on the life of an American hero. However, the presence of several insidiously inaccurate historical representations demonstrates how an entertaining film might not be as innocent as it initially seems. This film fails to question certain key issues concerning the Daniel Boone legend. In fact, it does quite the opposite. The creators of this film wholeheartedly bought into the many warped myths and distorted “facts” surrounding the story of Daniel Boone. Amazingly, the ethnocentric (read racist and colonial) ideals found in 19th century whites apparently still existed in 1926, and, to a certain extent, still do today. This essay will explore the factors that contributed to the twisted representations found in With Daniel Boone Thru the Wilderness. Hopefully, the work of this essay and many others like it will help the next generation of Americans (and filmmakers) to avoid the same injustices and societal pitfalls that have plagued mankind for ages.
[2] So, then, what exactly are the problems with this film? Notably, nearly every film or TV show based on Daniel Boone has similar twisted depictions and representations of Boone, the native Americans, the white settlers, and the interaction therein. This suggests something deeper, and subtler maybe, than a few misinformed filmmakers. Something hidden seems to be imbedded deep w...
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...s and attitudes. It means history classes that teach more than a few pre-selected facts and films that admit that there may be more than one side to every story.
[23] Diagnosis may be simple, but remedy is never easy. Awareness is the key. As more people become more aware of the half-truths, distortions, injustices, and outright oppressions occurring in the world today, the future will become less of a variable. Americans can gain conscious control of their future, making choices that will allow for freedom and equality, for spiritual growth and renewal. A nation cannot learn from its own mistakes unless and until those mistakes are admitted and reconciled. That process must start now.
[24] America is redefining itself once again as the new millennium rolls in. Hopefully, this time around everybody will be well-represented in that definition.
One might wonder what a 1960 Western American movie would have to do with a 1820s transcendentalist essay. Western movies are often filled with violence and death far from the teachings of Ralph Waldo Emerson's "Self Reliance". Surprisingly, the movie "The Magnificent Seven" has borrowed some ideas from the essay. The premise of the movie lies in a small town terrorized by a bandit named Calvera. The people are forced into giving up their food and goods. The movie emphasizes on the gunslingers that are hired to protect their town, but the innocent farmers are most profound in their discovery of their own strength. Many concepts in this American classic have hints of Emerson's essay.
“Sometimes, all a parent needs is to know the impossible is actually possible.” Mark Haddon’s story The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time explains how there are all sorts of people in the world and none of their lives are the same. The central character, Christopher Boone has autism. People in his society do not truly accept autistic people, they always come to a conclusion that he is a disabled fifteen-year-old. One person who helped Christopher Boone when he was going through several peaks and valleys throughout the story is Siobhan, one of the few people that Christopher can understand.
Because the beliefs, education and cultures of people vary so much, along with the age of the child, methods of child discipline vary widely. The topic of child discipline involves a wide range of fields such as parenting, behavioural analysis, developmental psychology, social work and various religious perspectives. Advances in the understanding of parenting have provided a background of theoretical understanding and practical understanding of the effectiveness of parenting methods.
In Thomas King’s novel, The Inconvenient Indian, the story of North America’s history is discussed from his original viewpoint and perspective. In his first chapter, “Forgetting Columbus,” he voices his opinion about how he feel towards the way white people have told America’s history and portraying it as an adventurous tale of triumph, strength and freedom. King hunts down the evidence needed to reveal more facts on the controversial relationship between the whites and natives and how it has affected the culture of Americans. Mainly untangling the confusion between the idea of Native Americans being savages and whites constantly reigning in glory. He exposes the truth about how Native Americans were treated and how their actual stories were
What is Autism? It’s a developmental disorder that impairs one’s ability to communicate and interact with others. Christopher Boone from the novel A Curious Incident in the Nighttime and Temple Grandin, who has become one of the top scientists in the humane livestock handling industry both fall on the high-functioning spectrum of autism. Even so, they do not display the exact same traits and behaviors. Whereas Grandin thinks in pictures and employs this unique gift for practical use, Christopher thinks in patterns and fails communicate his talents with others. However, they both speak their mind and have trouble understanding facial expressions and emotions.
John Ford’s classic American Western film, Stagecoach (1939) shows many examples of political life and social behavior during it’s time. The plot is about nine travelers onboard a stagecoach from Tonto, Arizona to Lordsburg, New Mexico Territory. In the beginning, the passengers of the Stagecoach are unfamiliar with each other. However, their relationships grow as they get to know each other during their journey. Each character claims a different social position.
Fleming’s discovery marked the change of modern medicine. His penicillin testing soon led to better medication not only for the general population, but for the military too. Medical corps in WWII used this new treatment to the fullest extent, and society itself was made healthy again due to penicillin. Alexander Fleming is truly one of the leading biologists of our time, for without him, something as small as a common cold could well be
As we grow a foundation of rules are applied to us to help guide our behavior in the choices we make as we age. A certain modification is exerted, and we learn what we want by having our consequences corrected due to this behavior. A choice to spank a child, slap, pinch, hit with an object nearby, or make them eat unpleasant substances to curb their behavior are types of physical punishment. Surveys have documented majority of parents whom were physically punished growing up to punished their own children as they were. Research also indicates short-term consequences within a child from being physically punished which may cause the child to begin bullying other children, aggressiveness is shown, behavioral problems, enduring low self-esteem, becoming petrified of their own parents, and believing it is okay to lay a hand on another. The abuse of physical punishment can get a person arrested with a jail sentence, loss of custody, and in extreme cases horrifying injuries cause death to an individual (“Physical Punishment”, 2012). Two-thirds of Americans still approve of spanking their children, even after studies have shown this type of physical punishment can lead to increased aggression, antisocial behavior, physical injury and mental health problems for children (Smith,
The use of physical discipline arises an abundant amount of negative outcomes for the children impacted by the physical punishment. Typically, the physically punished child will result in having several psychological troubles fro...
There has been a misconception about how to properly discipline children due to secular views and flawed studies. Many of these so called “studies” have made “many experts believe that corporal punishment will likely lead to increased resistance or aggressive behavior from the child” ("Corporal Punishment." World Book Advanced). One study in particular “suggests that children who experienced harsh spanking (with objects or at a frequency of once a week or more with a hand) had significantly higher levels of mother-reported externalizing behavior at ages 6, 7, and 8 than did children who experienced no spanking or mild spanking at those ages, even controlling for prior externalizing behavior and other possible confounds.” ( Lansford ). However, aggressive behavior should be expected if a parent beats their child out of their own anger instead of a desire to better their child for the future. There are several other “studies” that claim to prove spanking increases negative behavior but they just lump them all together and say that all spanking in every form, regardless of it severity, is the same and creates worse children. “Any form of punishment, physical or otherwise, can have negative consequences if it is abused.”. (Green) If parents don’t discipline their children physically, they will ve...
More than one generation of parents have uttered the words “this is going to hurt me more than it hurts you” after those words a spanking is likely what followed. As parents many believe that spanking a child is a way of disciplining them to do right but does it cause more harm than good? The practice of spanking is one that is very controversial because of its history of being present and the various beliefs for it. However, studies have shown that spanking children causes lasting effects on a child such as emotional withdrawal, social disconnection, behavioral problems, depression and anxiety. The studies have directly assessed African American families and the effects spanking has on African American children.
Parents need to use physical punishment as a disciplinary tactics. Parents who are trying to raise their undisciplined children should use the spanking technique to help their children to become respectful and well minded young adults. The research, by Calvin College psychology professor Marjorie Gunnoe, found that kids smacked before age 6 grew up to be more successful. On the other hand, researchers’ find that hitting your child leads to fear and ideas of running away. Spanking a child may save his or her life in the future. Kyle Schnitzer of The New York Post writes “researcher’s looked at four nationals studies using 23 years of data, where in 1988, 46% of mothers in middle-class families used spanking. Whereas in 2011 the use of spanking dropped drastically to 18%. “It’s not abuse it’s a learning experience to the child body (Lauren).” Therefore spanking a child is not lazy parenting
Andrew Moyer was one of the fantastic scientists to discover penicillin. Dr. Moyer was an expert on the nutrition of molds. According to The History of Penicillin by Mary Bellis, “Andrew J Moyer… with the assistance of Dr. Heatley… in increasing the yields of penicillin 10 times” (124). Furthermore, after the discovery of the drug, the price skyrocketed after the effectiveness was realized. According to Bellis also said, “… from nearly priceless in 1940, to $20 per dose in July 1943, to $0.55 per dose by 1946”(124). The discovery was monumental.
...E. (2000). Child Outcomes of Nonabusive and Customary Physical Punishment by Parents: An Updated Literature Review. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review. doi:10.1023/A:1026473020315.
Gershoff 2002 study on corporal punishment by parents found parental corporal punishment on children was associated with a decrease in a child’s moral internalization, quality of relationships with parents, and a decrease in mental health in both child and adulthood. She also found it was associated with an increase in a child’s delinquency, antisocial behavior, and aggression ...